Is it possible to deserialize XML into List T

Question

Given the following XML    lt  xml version  1 0   gt   lt user list gt      lt user gt         lt id gt 1 lt  id gt         lt name gt Joe lt  name gt      lt  user gt      lt user gt         lt id gt 2 lt  id gt         lt name gt John lt  name gt      lt  user gt   lt  user list gt    And the following class   public class User       XmlElement  id       public Int32 Id   get  set         XmlElement  name       public String Name   get  set        Is it possible to use XmlSerializer to deserialize the xml into a List lt User gt    If so  what type of additional attributes will I need to use  or what additional parameters do I need to use to construct the XmlSerializer instance   An array   User     would be acceptable  if a bit less preferable

User · Answer

I think I have found a better way  You don t have to put attributes into your classes  I ve made two methods for serialization and deserialization which take generic list as parameter   Take a look  it works for me    private void SerializeParams lt T gt  XDocument doc  List lt T gt  paramList                System Xml Serialization XmlSerializer serializer   new System Xml Serialization XmlSerializer paramList GetType              System Xml XmlWriter writer   doc CreateWriter             serializer Serialize writer  paramList            writer Close                      private List lt T gt  DeserializeParams lt T gt  XDocument doc                System Xml Serialization XmlSerializer serializer   new System Xml Serialization XmlSerializer typeof List lt T gt              System Xml XmlReader reader   doc CreateReader             List lt T gt  result    List lt T gt  serializer Deserialize reader           reader Close             return result          So you can serialize whatever list you want  You don t need to specify the list type every time           List lt AssemblyBO gt  list   new List lt AssemblyBO gt             list Add new AssemblyBO             list Add new AssemblyBO     DisplayName    Try   Identifier    243242              XDocument doc   new XDocument            SerializeParams lt T gt  doc  list           List lt AssemblyBO gt  newList   DeserializeParams lt AssemblyBO gt  doc

User · Answer

Yes  it will serialize and deserialize a List lt    Just make sure you use the  XmlArray  attribute if in doubt    Serializable  public class A        XmlArray      public List lt string gt  strings      This works with both Serialize   and Deserialize

User · Answer

You can encapsulate the list trivially   using System  using System Collections Generic  using System Xml Serialization    XmlRoot  user list    public class UserList       public UserList    Items   new List lt User gt           XmlElement  user        public List lt User gt  Items  get set     public class User        XmlElement  id        public Int32 Id   get  set          XmlElement  name        public String Name   get  set       static class Program       static void Main                 XmlSerializer ser  new XmlSerializer typeof UserList            UserList list   new UserList            list Items Add new User   Id   1  Name    abc             list Items Add new User   Id   2  Name    def             list Items Add new User   Id   3  Name    ghi             ser Serialize Console Out  list

User · Answer

Yes  it does deserialize to List lt    No need to keep it in an array and wrap encapsulate it in a list   public class UserHolder       private List lt User gt  users   null       public UserHolder                     XmlElement  user        public List lt User gt  Users               get   return users            set   users   value              Deserializing code   XmlSerializer xs   new XmlSerializer typeof UserHolder    UserHolder uh    UserHolder xs Deserialize new StringReader str

User · Answer

Not sure about List lt T gt  but Arrays are certainly do-able   And a little bit of magic makes it really easy to get to a List again   public class UserHolder       XmlElement  list       public User   Users   get  set         XmlIgnore     public List lt User gt  UserList   get   return new List lt User gt  Users

User · Answer

How about  XmlSerializer xs   new XmlSerializer typeof user      using  Stream ins   File Open   c  some xml   FileMode Open   foreach  user o in  user   xs Deserialize ins      userList Add o         Not particularly fancy but it should work

User · Answer

If you decorate the User class with the XmlType to match the required capitalization    XmlType  user    public class User              Then the XmlRootAttribute on the XmlSerializer ctor can provide the desired root and allow direct reading into List lt            e g  my test to create a file     using  var writer   new FileStream  users xml   FileMode Create                 XmlSerializer ser   new XmlSerializer typeof List lt User gt                  new XmlRootAttribute  user list             List lt User gt  list   new List lt User gt             list Add new User   Id   1  Name    Joe              list Add new User   Id   2  Name    John              list Add new User   Id   3  Name    June              ser Serialize writer  list                         read file     List lt User gt  users      using  var reader   new StreamReader  users xml                  XmlSerializer deserializer   new XmlSerializer typeof List lt User gt                  new XmlRootAttribute  user list             users    List lt User gt  deserializer Deserialize reader           Credit  based on answer from YK1

[c#] Is it possible to deserialize XML into List<T>?

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